Latest news with #DFS
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Digital push: India Post Payments Bank bags FinMin's 2024‑25 Digital Payments Award; tops DFS index among payments banks
India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has won the Union Finance Ministry's Digital Payments Award 2024‑25 for its role in widening access to cash‑lite transactions and driving financial inclusion across the country. The trophy was presented in Delhi by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and MoS (Finance) Pankaj Chaudhary to IPPB MD & CEO R Viswesvaran and CGM G Rai Bansal. The recognition comes on the back of IPPB finishing No. 1 among all payments banks on the Department of Financial Services (DFS) performance index for FY 24‑25, after receiving a 'special mention' last year, a government release said. Launched in 2018 as a 100 per cent government‑owned arm of the Department of Posts, IPPB delivers paperless, cashless and presence‑less banking through nearly 2 lakh postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks using smartphone‑biometric kits. Its network covers about 1.65 lakh post offices (of which 1.4 lakh are rural) and serves 11 crore customers in 5.6 lakh villages and towns. 'This award is a testimony to IPPB's relentless efforts in making digital financial services accessible, inclusive and trusted,' Viswesvaran said, adding that the bank will 'remain committed to empowering every Indian citizen through innovative and secure digital solutions.' The DFS honour reinforces the bank's mandate to bridge India's urban‑rural divide in banking and support the Centre's vision of a less‑cash, digitally empowered economy, the statement added. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
India Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- India Today
Fire officials, cops among 10 eyewitnesses who saw cash at Justice Varma's house
A Supreme Court-appointed inquiry panel has, for the first time, named the 10 eyewitnesses who saw large quantities of cash inside the store room of Justice Yashwant Varma's official residence in Delhi. The list includes fire officials, police officers, and personnel from the child rights body: Ankit Sehwag, Pradeep Kumar, Manoj Mehlawat, Bhanwar Singh, Pravindra Malik, and Suman Kumar — all officers from the Delhi Fire Service (DFS); Rajesh Kumar and Umesh Malik from Tughlaq Road police station; Roop Chand, a head constable; and Sunil Kumar, an officer from the Indian Commission for Protection of Child Rights (ICPCR).advertisementThe panel found that these eyewitnesses saw stacks of currency notes — reportedly piled 1.5 feet high — in the aftermath of a fire at the judge's residence in March. One witness described being "shocked and surprised" by the sheer volume of cash, saying it was unlike anything he had ever seen. Despite the discovery, Justice Varma made no effort to report the matter to police or judicial authorities, the panel noted. "No plausible explanation has been given. The judge's claim of lack of knowledge is unbelievable," it panel also flagged what it called "unnatural conduct" by the judge, highlighting how the store room — access to which was exclusively controlled by Justice Varma and his family — was later cleaned out and the cash disappeared. Visual evidence reportedly showed some notes were Justice Varma's defence that the entire episode was a conspiracy to malign him, the inquiry committee stated: 'Currency notes were seen by multiple people and recorded in real time. It is implausible they were planted to frame him.'The committee concluded there was "sufficient substance" in the allegations against the Allahabad High Court judge and has recommended his Varma, who was transferred back to the Allahabad High Court following the incident, has not been allotted any judicial work since. He has neither resigned nor taken voluntary retirement and continues to claim the process against him is 'fundamentally unjust.'Must Watch
India Today
2 days ago
- Politics
- India Today
Witnesses saw large pile of cash; Justice Varma filed no complaint: Inquiry panel
Multiple witnesses saw a large pile of currency notes inside Justice Yashwant Varma's residence, but he never filed a police complaint or informed judicial authorities, a Supreme Court-appointed inquiry panel has found. The panel also termed the conduct of the Allahabad High Court judge 'unnatural' and recommended his panel investigating the recovery of a large stash of cash from the residence of Justice Yashwant Varma concluded that there is "sufficient substance" in the allegations against him. The committee found eyewitness accounts and visual evidence of a significant quantity of banknotes — some of them half-burnt — at the judge's Delhi home, and flagged his 'unnatural' conduct, including his failure to report the panel examined 55 witnesses, including Justice Varma's daughter, and found corroborative testimony from fire and police personnel as well as videos and photographs showing "a large pile" of Rs 500 notes strewn across the storeroom floor. One witness told the panel, "I was shocked and surprised by such a large amount of cash it was the first time I saw anything like it in my life".Despite this, neither Justice Varma nor any of his family members reported the matter to the police or brought it to the attention of senior judicial authorities. "No plausible explanation has been given the judge's claim of lack of knowledge is unbelievable," the panel noted, adding that "if there was any conspiracy, why did he not file a complaint or inform the Chief Justice of the High Court or the Chief Justice of India?"WHO ARE THE 10 WITNESSES?advertisementThe ten individuals who testified to seeing the currency notes include senior officials from the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) and the Delhi Police—those who were among the first to respond to the are: Ankit Sehwag (Fire Officer, DFS), Pradeep Kumar (Fire Officer, DFS), Manoj Mehlawat (Station Officer, DFS), Bhanwar Singh (Driver, DFS), Pravindra Malik (Fire Officer, DFS), Suman Kumar (Assistant Divisional Officer, DFS), Rajesh Kumar (from Tughlaq Road Police Station), Sunil Kumar (Incharge, ICPCR), Roop Chand (Head Constable), and Umesh Malik (SHO, Tughlaq Road Police Station).Furthermore, the committee said access to the storeroom, where the fire broke out and the cash was found, was controlled exclusively by Justice Varma and his family. It noted that the room was later cleaned out and the notes 'disappeared'.A private secretary to the judge allegedly directed fire officials to exclude any mention of the currency notes from their official report. According to the fire services, a superior officer told them not to pursue the matter further since "higher ups were involved".While the domestic staff denied seeing the cash, the panel said there was no reason to disbelieve the independent accounts of police and fire committee also rejected Justice Varma's defence that the episode was a 'conspiracy' to malign his image. "Currency notes were seen by multiple people and recorded in real time. It is implausible they were planted to frame him," it also flagged the possible roles of his private secretary Rajinder Singh Karki and his daughter Diya Varma in the 'destruction of evidence or cleaning of the spot.'Justice Varma first came under scrutiny in March when a fire broke out at his official residence. The inquiry has "undeniably established" that a substantial amount of cash, reportedly stacked 1.5 feet high, was recovered from the back to the Allahabad High Court in the wake of the incident, Justice Varma has not been assigned any judicial work. He continues to maintain his innocence and has neither resigned nor opted for voluntary retirement, calling the inquiry a "fundamentally unjust" Watch
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
India's fintech market to become $400 billion in next 3 years: Finance minister
New Delhi: India's fintech market is flourishing and projected to become $400 billion in the next three years, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday urging the industry to continue 'fearlessly' innovating people-centric new solutions to maintain the country's leadership position in this area. India accounts for almost half of all real time digital transactions in the world, she said at the Digital Payments Awards 2025 ceremony organised by the department of financial services (DFS), an arm of the finance ministry. According to industry estimates, the country's fintech market is estimated at around $110 billion with an adoption rate of 87%, significantly high compared to the global average of 67%. 'The fintech revolution in India will further flourish. Our fintech market is projected to grow to over $400 billion by 2028-29, reflecting an anticipated annual growth of over 30%. The scale of opportunity is immense. I firmly believe its best chapters are yet to be written. Together, let us Innovate, Include, and Inspire. Innovate new solutions fearlessly, include every citizen in your vision, and inspire the world with what India can achieve,' the finance minister said. The speed at which innovation is happening in India is just a dream for many other countries, she said. 'Several advanced countries are nowhere close to the kind of momentum our fintech companies have achieved, not just in terms of progress in their respective areas, but also in creating entirely new paradigms. This is something which is very unique of the Indian fintech sector,' she said. She said the scale of adoption in India is also phenomenal and the same is globally acclaimed. Citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for 'Make in India, Make for the world', she said: 'In this context, Indian fintech innovations have the potential to become global public goods that can benefit other emerging and developed economies. This will open new markets for our firms.' 'Our players must aim to export our successful models abroad and capture global markets. We have the talent, we have the market scale, and we have the proven solutions,' she said. India's international merchant payments through Unified Payment Interface (UPI) are now accepted at select merchant outlets in seven countries -- Bhutan, France, Mauritius, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Quoting from a World Bank's report, she said that through the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), India achieved an 80% financial inclusion rate in just six years. 'Some observers who have gone through this report have said that this feat would have otherwise taken nearly 50 years,' she added. During the pandemic, payment apps became lifelines – enabling contactless payments and doorstep banking when mobility was restricted, she said. As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India's Digital Payments Index, which measures the overall usage of digital payments, has quadrupled in the last five years, from 100 in 2018 to 465 in 2024, she added. India now accounts for over 48.5% of all real-time digital payment transactions in the world. Over 35 crore users are part of the UPI ecosystem.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
DraftKings (DKNG) Imposes Fee to Offset Illinois' New Tax, Jefferies Maintains a Buy
DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ:DKNG) is one of the 10 best growth stocks to buy according to billionaires. On June 10, Jefferies analyst David Katz released a note discussing the impact of the Illinois legislature's approval of a new betting transaction tax on all in-state wagers announced in the first week of June. As a result of the higher tax, operators are expected to adjust their fees accordingly. The new transaction tax, effective from July 1, requires operators to be charged $0.25 for each bet up to 20 million bets and $0.50 for each additional bet thereafter. On June 10, Flutter Entertainment plc (NYSE:FLTR), another player in the space, announced a $0.50 fee for each bet made on its FanDuel platform, effective September 1, to offset the added cost. According to Jefferies analyst David Katz, this move is likely to set a precedent across the industry. Following the development, Katz believed that DraftKings is likely to adopt a similar surcharge model, given its practicality in directly addressing the tax burden. While such a fee could be passed through to consumers, the analyst views the development as moderately positive for the stock. He maintained a Buy rating on DraftKings, with a $60 price target, reflecting continued confidence in the company's ability to navigate evolving regulatory frameworks. Notably, two days after the analyst's note, on June 12, DraftKings also announced that it would implement a $0.50 transaction fee on all mobile and online bets placed in Illinois, effective September 1. While the company CEO, Jason Robins, shared his disappointment over the tripling of the company's tax rate in the state over the past two years, he offered to remove the fee immediately if the new legislation is repealed. DraftKings Inc. is a Boston, Massachusetts-based gambling company that offers sportsbook and daily fantasy sports (DFS) services. While we acknowledge the potential of DKNG as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock. READ NEXT: The Best and Worst Dow Stocks for the Next 12 Months and 10 Unstoppable Stocks That Could Double Your Money. Disclosure: None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
